Heerenveen boss Gertjan Verbeek is quite confident that Michael Bradley will become a very useful Eredivisie midfielder with a little more seasoning.

"We play differently than he did in America," the manager told YA after watching his reserves drop a close decision at Ajax on Monday night.

"Once he gets smart in the way we want to play, I think he will be a good player for the first team."

After being subbed out near the hour, the young American spent 25 minutes going over the match with Verbeek one-on-one.

"I talk to him about how he played and about his task in the team," said the coach. "What he did well, what he did wrong."

"(I'm grateful) for him to take the time and talk about some things he saw in the game and I saw in the game," Bradley told YA. "Anytime I can get that, it's helpful."

Since the former MetroStar did not appear in Heerenveen's weekend 10-man loss at Excelsior Rotterdam, he was given the chance to stretch his legs with the reserves.

Some may wonder if Beloftencompetitie action can help Bradley progress, but he is fast to assure that the games are intensely contested by many hungry talents - especially when the opponent is an Ajax.

The Yank spent most of Monday night dueling with hot prospect Jeffrey Sarpong, who US fans may remember for the two goals that knocked the Red, White & Blue out of the 2005 Under-17 World Championships.

"The quality of the second team matches in this country are for the most part pretty good," Bradley stated. "Obviously, I'm trying to put myself in the first team, but it's still good to come out on a weekly basis and get a good run."

The midfielder was not used for the full match because Verbeek may need to call on him at some point in their impending UEFA Cup tie opener at Vitória Setúbal.

"I only got 60 minutes because we're playing in Portugal on Thursday night, so it was a little shorter," noted Bradley. "We're really excited. We're ready to get going."

"Portuguese teams are good teams, so we're going to go there and try to get a result knowing we'll have a great atmosphere in Heerenveen for the return leg two weeks later."